Most attempts to transform organisations in this increasingly global world fail to meet their original aims! Yet organisations which can adapt quickly and effectively are the most successful! What is so thorny difficult about change and business strategy that only about 10% strategic initiatives produces real tangible results!?

One of the most important answer lies in the narrow way organisations approach motivation and engagement of their employees particullary the most talented ones! The process of change itself is muddled, painfull, tiresome, complicated, energy consuming, messy... not at all as many times described by authors in the bussiness schools case studies: planned, well executed, linear and structured! The technical and structural aspects though - structures, processes and systems- received all the attention! However this left out often too many human components of change to chance: motivation, employee engagement, managing organizational energy, microclimate, values, culture, communications, attitude and behaviour, the art of retaining talent, etc. But make no mistake: the change depend ultimatelly on people - it is a fragile process that can be easily derailed by staff unwilling to adapt their behaviour to support the new strategies and processes but also by managers who feel their power base and their influence will be eroded!

To avoid these problems, organisations need to consciously adress and plan the human relationship issues, management oh human capital as well the cultural aspects along with the whole new set of managers’ skills and competencies. People need to be persuaded of the positive benefits of the change which is the engine of growth. We need extremelly fresh and creative ideas or we will have only what we have had before, in the past- if one continues the way she did as before! Planned change works for the machines! But are there organizations like machines? We need to test a different metaphor: organizations are organic; like people with whom programmed change does not work easily!

An organization without the motivated workforce (particullary some key talented people) is like an engine running on empty: it needs the right fuel to perform at its best! But unfortunatelly too many companies invest in the wrong brands of motivational fuel: salaries, bonuses, promotions,etc. These extrinsic incentives seem to be the key to inspiring employees yet fail to motivate them!? They do not work smarter nor harder nor these »golden handcuffs« manages to retain their career with the company. The enduring motivation is granted merely through intrinsic rewards: responsibilities that satisfy our deep-seated need for challenge, growth and achievement! When employer provides these rewards, employees themselves fire up their own engines driving collective excellence throughout Your firm. Powered this way Your firm can achieve and sustain top performance and retain Your best talent.

Employee engagement (and passion for their company) makes a huge difference to Your business. While one cannot ignore functional or rational elements to fully engage Your workforce, it is the emotional drivers of the heart that matters the most and are going to make the biggest difference of all.

Now are the contemporary HRM experts equiped and ready to perform these new strategic roles in order to add value to the business?

Brane Gruban, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator, Los Angeles, 1997), Dialogos

Over 40 years of business experience out of which over 20 years in public relations, strategic communications and strategic management consultancy.

His assignments include a wide variety of fields: public relations, communications strategy, management of change, issues and crisis communications management, executive development and education, employee relations, human resources and relationship management, etc.

Brane Gruban is a founding member of Public Relations Society of Slovenia (PRSS) and past president for six years. He also established the Slovenian Chapter of IABC, International Association of Business Communicators with headquarters in San Francisco: he is also a past director-at-large of the IABC! He is holding the ABC accreditation (Accredited Business Communicator). Many of the projects from his portfolio of works have been recognized by numerous international rewards (such as IABC Gold Quill Award on three occasions).

Gruban published over nine hundred articles, book chapters, books and research reports both in Slovenia and internationally. There are over 1.700 one or few days domestic and international seminars and workshops in his portfolio with more than 20.000 participants!